Text / Compiled and reported by the editorial team of MOOK Scenic Spots Travel Life Network
[A Journey That Started with a Lie] is adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name by Japanese bestselling author Kikukawa Yasushi, who has deep insights into today’s middle school students and their parents’ generation. His timely perspective resonated strongly with many. A Journey That Started with a Lie: A Kumamoto Teen’s Solo Tokyo School Trip was selected as one of the 20 must-read books for young people in 2012, while its latest sequel, A Dream That Started with a Lie: The Miracle Dream-Seeking Journey of a Comedy Teen and a Speech Girl, was chosen by a wide readership in Japan as the book they’d most like to give to their younger selves.
The movie depicts a journey that began with a lie. (Image provided by Temptation of the Sky)
“Tokyo stinks!” he casually lied to his classmates, but the lie quickly snowballed, forcing Kosuke (played by Sano Gaku), a high school student from Kumamoto, to secretly embark on a trip to Tokyo. Unable to catch the return flight and with nowhere else to go, he was taken in by the kind-hearted airport clerk, Ms. Masami (played by Sugita Kaoru), who let him stay at her home for the night. But that very evening, she scolded him: “Hey kid, just because I’m letting you stay here doesn’t mean you can lounge around drinking tea and chatting. Remember, you’re not a guest—you’re a freeloader!” As a result, Kosuke was forced to clean the room and even the toilet, and for the first time, he truly understood the endless chores his mother did every day without complaint...
The film depicts a young boy’s reflective journey that begins with a lie. (Image provided by Temptation of the Sky)
Along the way, the teenager comes to realize that every coincidence in life holds meaning. (Image provided by Temptation of the Sky)
Entrusted by Ms. Masami, Kosuke sets out to find her ex-husband, Akiyama (played by Tsukamoto Shinya), who lives in Shizuoka. This leads him on a completely different life journey, where encounters with various people, events, and things spark words of wisdom that seem ordinary yet radiant with insight. A casual lie told to save face leads the 17-year-old to confront himself and experience a true journey of life. The people and moments he meets along the way will become the most beautiful and treasured memories — those chance encounters are actually the inevitabilities of life...
Movie poster for A Journey That Started with a Lie. (Image provided by Temptation of the Sky)
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